Oae seat



'3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. W. CUSHING.

GAR SEAT.

Patented June l0, 1890.

No. v430,071

WITNESSES:

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GAR. SEAT.

Patented June 10, 1890.

(No Model.)

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-'Sheet 3.

G. W. GUSHING.

GAR SEAT.

Patented June 10.1800.

INVENTOR,

WITNESSES:

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UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE..

GEORGE W. CSHING, OF'OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

CAR-SEAT.

SPECIFICATION forming` part 0f Letters Patent No. 430,071, dated June10, 1890.

I Application iiled January 15, 1890. Serial No. 337,000. (No model.)

To .aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. CUsHING,

" of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Seats, of whichimprovement the following is a speciiication.

The obj ect of my invention is to provide a reversible car-seat-that isto say, one in which the occupants are enabled to face either end of thecar, as desired-which shall be of simple and inexpensive constructionand suitably adapted to use in passenger-cars of the standard type, andin which the seat-back may be made of any desired height, so as toeither serve as or be fitted with a head-rest. In addition to suchstructural advantages my invention is designed to obviate theinconvenience and objections experienced in the use of the ordinaryreversible-back seats, which result from the turning of the backs of twoadjacent seats in opposite directions, so that the seats face eachother, among which are discomfort to passengers and opportunity forintrusion upon their privacy by ill-bred persons, the appropriation ofmore than the legitimate amount of space by passengers, injury tocushions by passengers putting their feet upon them, and the frequentpractice of turning the cushions lengthwise of Vthe oar and using' themas beds. To these ends my invention, generally stated, consists in thecombination of seat ends, a seat-back substantially lixed thereon, and aseat pivoted to swinging` carriers and movable therewith toward and fromthe seat ends, so as to be adapted to rest either on a support fixedthereto or on asupport fixed to the seat ends of the adjacent seat,according as the occupant desires to face in one or the other direction.The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an end view of a car-seat andthe major part of an adjacent car-seat embodying my invention; Fig. 2, aplan or top View of two adjacent seats; Fig. 3, a part verticallongitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, through one of "the seatends, illustrating means for imparting inclination in either directionto t-he seatback; and Fig. 4 a part vertical transverse section throughthe same and through a portion of the adjacent end of the seat-back.

In the practice of my inventionI provide a pair of vertical stands orsupports l, which are bolted to the iioor of the car in correspondingposition to the seat ends ordinarily employed, and as they perform afunction analogous to thatA of the latter they will be, for convenienceof description, similarly designated herein. A seat-back 2, which issuitably and similarly surfaced or upholstered on each of its sides, sothat either may serve as a support for the back of the occupants of theseat or of the adjacent seat, respectively, is connected at its ends toand supported by the seat ends l, and may either extend for a sufcientheight to enable its'top to serve as a head-rest or be provided with aseparate head-rest, in the manner of the ordinary parlor-car andreclining-seats. As shown in the drawings, the seat-back is preferablyso connected to the seatends as to admit of being inclined on eitherside of its vertical central plane; but such capacity of inclination,while desirable in promoting the comfort of passengers, is notessential, and its adoption is a matter within the discretion of theconstructor. In this instance apivot 3 is formed upon each end of theseat-back frame, near its lower side, said pivots fitting freely insockets 4 on the adjacent faces of the seat ends, so as to admit of theseat-back being swung therein within a limited range of inclination oneither side. The seat-back is held in desired vertical or inclinedposition by a spring-latch 5, sliding in a vertical guide 6 on theseat-back frame and adapted to engage one or the other of a series ofsockets 7 in the top of the seat end, the latch being held in positionin either of the sockets by a spring 8. Under this construction theseatback may be lifted out of its sockets 4 and removed for cleaning orrepair whenever (lesired.

The leading and essential feature of my invention consists in theprovision of a seat which is movable toward and from a non-re- Versibleor substantially fixed seat-back and correspondingly from andtowardanother similar seat-back, so as to .be capable of use, facing inopposite directions, respectively,

IOO

with either of said seat-backs, in lieu of the fixed seat and reversibleseat-back of the ordinary construction. To this end the seatframe 9, inwhich the seat-cushion 10 is fitted and which with its cushion may becollectively termed the seat, is supported on the side nearest theseat-back by one of a pair of foot-rest rail-seat supports 11, whichextend from one of the seat ends 1 to the other on opposite sides ofand' at equal distances from the central plane of the seat endsimmediately below the bottom of the seat. The seat is held in position,with the capacity of ready removal therefrom when desired, by hooks orprojections 12 on the bottom of its frame, which hooks engage sockets 13on the seat ends adjacent to the foot-rest rails 11. The seat is pivotedat its ends in its longitudinal central plane to the upper ends of apair of swinging links or carriers 14, the lower ends of which are inturn pivoted by pins 17 to bearings 15, bolted to the floor, and theside of the seat farthest from the seat-back is supported at each end onone of a pair of arms 1,6, projecting laterally in opposite directionsfrom the carriers 14, the outer ends of each pair of arms being locatedat equal distances from the carrier on which they are formed, and beingpreferably made of such length that when the carriers stand at eitherlimit of their traverse about the axes of their bearing-pivots 17 theouter ends of their upper arms 1G will stand at a higher level than thefoot-rest rails 11, so as to impart a downward and backward inclinationto the seat, which position of a seat is usually considered mostconducive to the comfort of the occupant, particularly in the case ofcar-seats. The seat is reversed-that is to say, moved from its positionrelatively to the seat ends and seat-back into a corresponding positionwith relation to the seat ends and seat-back of the adjacent seat, sothat the occupants may face in the opposite direction, as in the case ofthe reversal of an ordinary seatback, by raising the hooks 12 out of thesockets 13 and swinging the seat and seat-carriers 14 upon thebearing-pivots 17 of the latter until the side of the seat farthest fromthe seat-back is brought above the sockets 13 and foot-rest rail l1 onthe adjacent side of the seat ends of the next seat-back, when the hooks12 on that side of the shifted seat are dropped into the sockets and theseat is located, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, in properrelation to the seat-back of the adjacent seat to enable its occupantsto rest against said seat-back, and is supported in a similar manner tothat before described, the side which was previously supported by afoot-rest rail being now supported by carrierarms and that which wassupported by carrier-arms being now supported by a foot-rest rail. Acorresponding downward and backward inclination is also imparted to theseat in the opposite direction, as required by the change of position ofthe seat.

In the application of a series of myimproved car-seats on either or bothsides of a railroad-car an additional seat-back having its seat endsprovided with a single footrest rail and pair of seat-hook sockets isrequisite for the reversal of the last seat of each row.

lt will be seen that while any one or more of a series of my ,improvedcar-seats or the entire se'ries of seats may be moved so as to face inthe opposite direction, as above de? scribed, two successive seatscannot be made to directly face each other, as is frequently done byunauthorized persons and in violation of the rule generally in force inrailroad passenger service, with the ordinary reversi. ble-back seats.The familiar and decided objections of this practice are thus completelyobviated, while at the same time the passenger may at pleasure move hisseat so as to face toward either end of the car, while still keeping itreversed,`so far as the occupancyof his own seat is concerned, andwithout interfering with or intruding upon the occupants of the nextseat or seats. This ability of readily changing seating direction fromtime to time affords much relief to passengers in making long runs andwherevarying scenery is passed; and a further feature of advantage isfound in the provision of a head-rest by the elevation of the top of theseat-back sufficiently for this purpose or the attachment of anindependent head-rest.

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Thecombination of two seat-backs fixed as against reversal, a seat which ismovable toward and from one seat-back from and toward the other, andfixed and movable supports for the opposite sides, respectively, of theseat, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of two seat-backs each fixed as against reversal andadapted to be inclined toward either side of its central plane, a seatwhich is movable toward and from one seat-back from and toward theother, and fixed and movable supports for the opposite sides,respectively, of the seat, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of two seat-backs each fixed as against reversal, aninterposed seat which is movable toward and from each of saidseat-backs, a rest fixed to the supports of each of the seat-backs andadapted to sustain one side of the seat, and a movable supportsustaining the opposite side of the seat,sub stantially as set forth.

4. The combination of two seat ends, anonreversible seat-back supportedon each of said ends, a seat-support fixed adjacent to each seat-back, amovable seat adapted to rest at one side on either of said supports,

and swinging carriers coupled to the seat and 2 to fixed pivot-bearingsand supporting the opposite sides of the seat, substantially as setforth.

5. The combination of seat ends, a non-retween and supported by saidseat ends, a pair of foot-rest rail-seat supports fixed horizon-l tallybelow and on opposite sides of the seatback, sockets formed on the seatends adjacent to said seat-supports, a movable seat adapted to rest atone side on one ofthe seatsupports, hooks or projections `fixed to thebottom of the seat and adapted to engage the adjacent sockets of theseat ends, and a pair of carriers pivoted at their opposite ends to theseat and to iixed bearings, respectively, and provided withlaterally-projecting arms which support the outer side of' the seat ateither extremity of the pivotal traverse of the carriers, substantiallyas set forth.

7. The combination of two pairs of seat ends, a non-reversible seat-backinterposed between and supported by each pair of said ends, a seat whichis movable toward and from one seat back from and toward the other,fixed and movable supports for the opposite sides, respectively, of theseat, and a head-rest connected to the upper portion of each seat-back,substantially as set forth.

8; The combination of a pair of seat ends, pivot-sockets on the innersides of said seat ends, a seat-back provided with en'd pivots fittingsaid sockets, a series of latch-sockets formed in one of the seat endsradially to its pivot-socket, and a spring-lateh iitted to slide on theadjacent end of the seat-back and to engage in either ofthelatch-sockets, substantially as set forth.

GEORGE W. CUSHING.

VtIiesses:

JOHN WILSON, GEORGE R. BUTLIN.

